It’s called being born.
Pro tip: if you want to be treated well by the conservative elite, be either a fetus or a large, well-monied body. Otherwise, you’re just a mass to be manipulated, exploited and demonized.
The Article: America’s dumbest idea: creating a multiple-choice test generation by Erika Sánchez in The Guardian.
The Text: A few years ago, I met with my former high school social studies teacher to catch up over drinks. “Miss F” was one of my favorite teachers and we hadn’t seen each other in about 12 years. As we reminisced about our field trips, my other classmates, and my hilariously unfortunate fashion choices, she revealed to me that she and many of my former high school teachers refer to that time as “the golden era”. I was shocked. How could it be that the school district had become worse since I graduated?
My high school, which is located in a working class Latino suburb bordering Chicago, was overpopulated, underfunded, and in my opinion, incredibly stifling. Needless to say, I resented going there. I felt we were disenfranchised and were not given the same opportunities that affluent schools provided their students.
I should have realized how lucky I really was when I was in college, however. Unlike many of my classmates, I cranked out papers with little difficulty because I knew how to synthesize information and formulate an argument. Writing a thesis statement was a freaking breeze. But at the time I had no idea that these skills were a luxury.
As the number of climate change deniers and the effects of anthropogenic climate change continue to rise, it’s time for true, marked action to combat both. Bernie Sanders talks on what’s at stake.
Take a good look, desirers of change: this is the “moderate” 2016 presidential contender championed by mainstream pundits on the daily. It’s a shame, too, because I bet that were there major campaign donations to be made by sixth graders, Christie would be all about improving the public school system.
The Article: Over 3,000 US prisoners serving life without parole for non-violent crimes by Ed Pilkington in The Guardian.
The Text: At about 12.40pm on 2 January 1996, Timothy Jackson took a jacket from the Maison Blanche department store in New Orleans, draped it over his arm, and walked out of the store without paying for it. When he was accosted by a security guard, Jackson said: “I just needed another jacket, man.”
A few months later Jackson was convicted of shoplifting and sent to Angola prison in Louisiana. That was 16 years ago. Today he is still incarcerated in Angola, and will stay there for the rest of his natural life having been condemned to die in jail. All for the theft of a jacket, worth $159.
Jackson, 53, is one of 3,281 prisoners in America serving life sentences with no chance of parole for non-violent crimes. Some, like him, were given the most extreme punishment short of execution for shoplifting; one was condemned to die in prison for siphoning petrol from a truck; another for stealing tools from a tool shed; yet another for attempting to cash a stolen cheque.
